


The Other Side of Paradise

by Winged_Fool



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Abuse, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fairy Tale, Falling In Love, Fluff and Angst, Growing Up, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-31 05:45:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,596
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19419676
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Winged_Fool/pseuds/Winged_Fool
Summary: Once upon a time, there was an alien who spent his life searching for a home and along the way, he fell in love with a beautiful fey boy.





	The Other Side of Paradise

Once upon a time, there was a village that was situated near an expansive forest and they said the forest was home to the fey folk. The villagers complained about the fey folk, for the mischief they brought to the villagers, for the tricks they practiced out in the forest. The fey folk were generally harmless, mostly a nuisance if nothing else, but they were protective of their territory. The villagers dared not venture too far out into the woods for fear of upsetting the fey folk. 

Michael grows up with the stories of the fey playing malicious tricks on unsuspecting villagers that dared to challenge the territorial claims the fey had placed on the woods. Sometimes it frightened him, sometimes it made him curious. He wasn’t of this world either, and he’d never felt like he belonged in the village, perhaps the woods would be more of a home for him. After all, he, Isobel, and Max had been found near the woods’ edge by the villagers.

Max and Isobel don’t have the same pull to know more about themselves, but then again, they were taken in by a family while Michael was left to the poorhouse. When they do get together, Michael looks longingly at the forest, but Isobel and Max convince him not to venture in, tugging him away. _One day_ , he thinks as he allows them to pull him.

Mimi tells the best stories of the fey. She’s seen them, she claims, but where Maria rolls her eyes at her mother, Michael listens rapturously. She tells of beautiful creatures with a gift for magic and a love for mischief. Mimi knows Michael sits at the edge of the forest, wondering, and she tries to satisfy his curiosity with her tales. But, she always warns, fey have no love of humans so they must not venture to their territory. Michael always nods solemnly at her warnings, but zeroes in on ‘humans’ and feels giddy at the thought.

He finally ventures in one day when he is twelve. It’s not a particularly special day, a sunny fall day, other children are with their families, _distracted_. He doesn’t have a plan on getting back and only starts to worry about that as he gets deeper into the forest. But, he’s smart and observant, he’ll find his way back eventually. Michael stops for a break when he reaches a clearing. He sits at a tree and pulls out the jug of water he’d stashed in his rucksack. He sighs dramatically, disappointed he’d found nothing unusual in the forest. He wonders if it’s all been a myth, but he remembers the various tricks some of the villagers had played on them and he knows there must be _something_ outhere. Michael steels his resolve and decides to go a bit further before he calls it a day. 

He’s climbing over some rocks when he spots a boy about his age sitting at the banks of a stream. Michael climbs down the rocks slowly and gets a closer look at the boy. He’s braiding together some flowers and there’s a bunny in his lap. As Michael gets closer, he hears the boy speaking a foreign language and it almost sounds like he’s reprimanding the bunny. 

Michael is shocked at what he’s seeing and impulsively blurts out, “Who are you?” 

The boy and the bunny both snap their attention over to Michael. The boy drops the flowers he’s working on and the bunny snatches it into its mouth and hops away. The boy is wearing a simple shirt and trousers with a long necklace. He clutches at the pendant on the necklace when he notices Michael looking at it. “What are you doing here? Humans aren’t supposed to be here.” The boy says, he’s pulling at his necklace and looks frightened. 

“I wanted to see what was in the forest,” Michael smiles but keeps his distance. “I live in the village over there,” he gestures vaguely toward the direction he’d come from. 

The boy follows the direction Michael points out then flicks his attention back to Michael, “You shouldn’t be here. My father will be angry if he finds out you were here.”

“I’ll only stay for a bit,” Michael promises and slowly sits on the ground. “I’m Michael.”

The boy looks around nervously then drops his voice, “Alex.” 

Michael smiles and scoots closer to Alex, “What were you doing?” 

“I...I make protection runes for the animals of the forest.” Alex says softly, still fingering his pendant anxiously. 

Michael’s eyes widen, “Woah! You really are a fey, then?”

Alex looks surprised and simply nods, “The bunnies accidentally eat their runes a lot, so I was making them a new one.”

Michael’s grins, “That is so neat! But if they eat it, why don’t you make the runes out of something else?”

He looks down at his lap, “I don’t know how to make them out of anything else.”

“Well, I’m sure they appreciate you making new ones for them,” Michael replies seriously.

Alex looks up again and sees Michael’s slight smile and returns it. “I hope so. What do you do in the village?”

“Nothing,” Michael admits, “I guess one day I’ll help at the smithery, but I don’t want to.”

“The smithery? Is that the blacksmith?” Alex furrows his brow and Michael nods. “What do you want to do instead?” 

“I don’t know. Maybe farm? I like being out in nature.” He answers thoughtfully. 

Alex smiles, “Me, too.” Suddenly his demeanor darkens as if he’s heard something. “My father is coming back. You need to go!” He’s on his feet and pulling Michael up too. Alex seems terrified and it’s infectious.

“I don’t think I know how to get back.” Michael cries, panic in his gut.

Alex looks around frantically, “Close your eyes,” he instructs and Michael immediately does so. Then he feels Alex press his palm on his chest and something warm spreads across. Alex is whispering in that same language from earlier, then it’s suddenly silent and the touch is gone. Michael opens his eyes and he’s back on the edge of his village.

Michael returns to the village, dazed. He spends the rest of the day frightened that Alex’s father will find him and do...what? Michael wasn’t sure, but if his own child was so frightened of him, that didn’t bode well for Michael. But nothing happens, and by nightfall, Michael was giddy again. He couldn’t believe he’d met a fey!

The next morning, Michael awakens to his first fey prank. Michael grins widely when he finds it. His shoes have been stuffed with leaves and all his laces have been replaced with the same flowers Alex had been braiding yesterday. 

🌸 🌸 🌸

Michael sneaks back into the forest weeks later and finds Alex relatively easy. He’s working with twigs this time and is muttering again in the foreign language. Michael smiles and calls out, “Hi Alex!” He waves when Alex looks up and returns the smile.

“What are you working on?” Michael asks as he sits close to his companion. 

“I think I figured out how to weave spells on twigs,” Alex responded excitedly, holding up the braiding to show Michael.

Michael inspects it and smiles widely, “That’s incredible!” 

“I didn’t think to try really until you mentioned it for the bunnies,” Alex admits.

“I’m glad I could help.”

“You did,” Alex smiles, then looks down for a moment, “My father didn’t notice you’d been here.”

“Is that weird?” Michael asks. 

“He always knows when humans are in the forest, but I don’t know why he didn’t know about your visit,” he explains.

Michael knows why, but doesn’t offer anything to Alex. He merely shrugs, “Maybe I can come to visit more often then?”

“Really? You’d want?” Alex asks, shocked.

“Yeah! I’d like to be your friend.” Michael assures.

“Friend?” Alex tries out the word, then nods. “Yes, okay. You’ll be able to find me whenever you’re in the forest.”

Michael is nearly vibrating with excitement at the prospect of being able to visit the forest whenever he wanted and hang out with Alex.

Throughout the years, Michael learns more about the fey folk and Alex. His father rules over the vast expanse of the forest but has four sons that he entrusts to protect a portion of the forest. His father doesn’t care much for Alex, so he mostly leaves his portion of the forest unattended, which works in their favor.

Michael tells Alex about his village and the people there. He talks about Max and Isobel and how much he loves them, but always feels out of step with them. They get schooling because they have a family and they have their school friends. Michael can’t go because he lives in the poorhouse and he feels so dumb compared to them. He keeps Alex a secret because he’s the first thing in his life that he doesn't have to share with anyone else. Michael still listens to Mimi’s stories so it doesn’t raise suspicion, but he stops talking about wanting to find the fy and Max and Isobel are relieved.

Everyone in the village sighs an air of relief because the fey tricks seem to slow or they’re more harmless than before. It emboldens some villagers to venture out into the woods, but some never return and those that do face the embarrassment of returning naked for the fey have stolen their clothes and dignity. Michael never asks about what happens to the villagers, but sometimes Alex is wearing their clothes and it’s answer enough for him.

As the years pass, Alex becomes more playful and mischievous. With his father mostly leaving him to his own devices, Alex sheds that fear that haunted him the first year Michael had known him. Michael thinks Alex is his best friend, but as he gets older, his stomach begins to flip whenever he sees Alex and he doesn’t know what to make of it.

When Michael is sixteen, he waits for Alex at their usual spot, the same tree in the clearing that Michael had almost admitted defeat all those years ago. Alex appears next to Michael minutes later, with a mischievous grin on his face which makes Michael nervous but also causes his heart to stutter at how close Alex is to him. “I’ve found out why my father doesn’t know when you’re here,” he announces gleefully, “I know your secret.”

Michael’s stomach drops, but he tries to play it off, “I don’t have any secrets.” 

Alex’s eyes sparkle and he leans in, “Are you sure?” he whispers, “Rath?”

Michael freezes, hearing his old name from a life forgotten. They stare at each other and Alex waits patiently for Michael to respond, “You don’t care?”

“I don’t have anything against humans, but I’m glad you’re not one. I always knew you were special,” he says with an easy smile.

“How did you find out?” 

“The trees are keepers of secrets,” Alex explains and presses a hand against the trunk of the one they’re leaning against, “I asked them what they knew.” 

“You can’t tell anyone!” Michael urges, panic suddenly crashing upon him. He’d heard about villagers burning people who they suspected were different. 

Alex laughs Michael’s worry off, “Who am I going to tell? The trees already know and the animals won’t care.”

Michael finally relaxes, “Thank you. It’s nice to be able to talk to someone about it. Max and Isobel don’t like to, but they have a family.”

“They’re more human than you,” Alex observes, then he perks up. “The trees tell me you have magic, too. Show me.”

“It’s not really magic,” Michael begins but stops when Alex levels him an unimpressed eyebrow raise. Michael just sighs then looks over at the field of flowers before them. He concentrates and plucks one out, floats it over to them, and tucks it into Alex’s hair.

Alex smiles and touches the flower then laughs breathlessly, “That’s amazing.”

Michael looks at Alex and his breath hitches as he realizes with a start that he _loves_ Alex. He doesn't know what to do with the epiphany, so he just leaves it there while they slip into a conversation about magic and aliens. 

“Rath is a good name, but I like Michael better,” Alex admits and snuggles closer to Michael.

And because _Alex_ thinks so, Michael agrees. The sun is just starting to dip beyond the horizon when Michael decides he needs to return home. Alex looks disappointed as he always does when Michael leaves and he wants to do something to wipe the sadness away. So, he leans in, cups Alex’s face, and kisses him. Alex responds immediately, hooking his hands around Michael’s neck.

When they part, Alex has a dazed look in his eyes but a smile on his lips and Michael laughs helplessly. He leans in for another kiss and Alex murmurs against his lips, “Don’t you need to go?”

“One more,” Michael whines and then kisses Alex again. His eyes slide closed and this time Alex cups Michael’s face. He opens his eyes when he feels Alex pull away and he’s back at his usual spot on the edge of the forest, butterflies fluttering away where Alex had previously been. He reaches up to touch his lips, still tingling from the kiss, and smiles.

🦋 🦋 🦋

Things don’t change that much after that. Michael still sneaks out to visit Alex, but now they spend time shyly exchanging kisses and practicing magic together. Michael is able to pick up other skills like healing small cuts and bruises from Alex. When Michael turns eighteen, he begins helping Foster out on his farm. Foster is a good employer and gives Michael a day off every couple of days and he spends its entirety with Alex. He starts staying later and later and Alex doesn’t comment on it but looks pleased.

One day, the sun has set already and Michael is holding Alex in his lap while he lazily weaves twigs and flowers together in a ringlet. “I want to give you a protection rune, but I’ve only made them for animals,” Alex explains as he continues braiding and infusing the plants with magic. 

Michael’s heart warms at the thought of having something that Alex made for him. He leans down and kisses Alex who puts the runes aside and turns to sit on Michael’s lap and eagerly return the kiss. Michael puts his hands on Alex’s hips and rubs circles on each hip bone with his thumbs while Alex buries his hands in Michael’s hair. They pull away slightly and rest their foreheads together. “You should stay tonight,” Alex whispers, panting softly.

“You mean…?” Michael gapes when Alex nods fervently. He presses his hand against Michael’s chest and with a quiet _whoosh,_ they’re in a small one-room cabin. There’s a futon in the corner and a fire pit in the middle of the room, and the entire place is decorated with various flowers from the forest. Michael recognizes the one he put in Alex’s hair all those months ago hanging above the futon and his heart swells. 

Alex tugs his hand leading him to the bed and pushes him onto it while he stays standing, studying Michael. Michael grins cheekily at Alex and uses his powers to start removing Alex’s clothes. Alex laughs brightly then joins Michael on the bed and slowly removes his clothes too, running his hands over the skin as it becomes exposed. They’re exchanging heated kisses and soon lose themselves in each other’s embrace.

They wake up still tightly clutching at each other and with smiles on their faces. Michael gets up first and starts dressing. “I need to head back. Foster will wonder where I am.”

Alex gets up and also dresses, though he seems more subdued than usual. “I wish you didn’t have to leave.”

Michael smiles sadly and cups Alex’s cheek. “Me too,” then leans in to kiss him softly.

Suddenly, the front door of Alex’s cabin bursts open and a tall man stands in the doorway. He has ice blue, cold eyes and power radiates off him in waves. He is clearly a fey and it doesn’t take many guesses to figure out who he is. Alex takes a step in front of Michael and he can see his hackles rising in tension, “Father. I wasn’t expecting you.”

“Clearly,” Alex’s dad sneers back and sets his steely gaze on Michael, studies him for a moment, then returns his attention back to Alex. “I give you leeway to rule your forest as you see fit and this is the gratitude I get in return?”

Alex swallows thickly, “This has nothing to do with you.”

In a blink of an eye, the fey has Alex’s neck in his hand, “You’ve always been a pathetic excuse of a fey, Alex. Spending your time with the animals and leaving the humans alone with their gems and treasures. And now you defile our legacy by bringing a human into your bed.”

Michael watches, horrified, for a moment then pushes the fey off Alex with his mind, “Don’t touch him!”

The fey stumbles a bit but then regains his composure. He _pops_ in front of Michael and grabs his left hand and fixes him with a look full of pure hatred. Michael screams in agony as his hand is engulfed in invisible flames, eating away at his flesh and the skin bubbling up. He falls to his knees when the fey releases him and clutches his mangled hand to his chest.

“Get rid of him,” he hears the fey spit at Alex and the last thing Michael sees is Alex’s tear-stained face.

💧 💧 💧

Michael wakes in an unfamiliar room and notices his hand has been bandaged. He gets up a bit too quickly and is hit with a wave of vertigo and slumps back down on the bed. He lays there, wondering what happened after Alex sent him away and hopes that he’s okay. He feels terror rise in his gut that Alex’s father had done something horrible to his son, and his hand throbs at the thought. 

The door to the room creaks open and Max and Isobel enter. “You’re awake!” Isobel exclaims and goes over to put a soothing hand on Michael’s forehead.

“What happened?” Michael asks groggily.

“Foster found you passed out in the fields with your hand looking like that,” Max nods at the bandaged hand, “and he called Isobel and I out to get you. I tried to heal it, but...the injury is magic, isn’t it?”

Michael swallows, Isobel and Max watching him expectantly. “Yes, it was a fey.”

“What were you doing in the woods?” Max demands just as Isobel says, “You’re lucky you’re alive, Michael!”

Michael looks at his hand and stays quiet for a moment. Then he takes a deep breath and reveals the truth to his siblings, or at least a version of it. He tells them about how he’d been sneaking into the forest for years, of his friendship with Alex, how he’d fallen asleep in the woods, and Alex had protected him, but then Alex’s father found him and injured his hand. He keeps the true nature of his relationship with Alex from them but tells them how much he cares about Alex and how worried he is.

Max and Isobel are shocked by the revelations and share a look between themselves. Then Isobel speaks, “Do you want us to go with you out to the woods to make sure he’s okay?”

“You would do that, even though I lied to you for years?” Michael asks in disbelief.

Max looks down at his feet then answers, “You’re our brother, Michael, and the fact that we didn’t notice you sneaking away for years says more about us than you going into the forest in the first place.”

Michael is filled with love for his siblings and he nods. They agree that Michael needs to rest before they make the journey so they keep him in the room in Max’s home for a week. At the end of the week, they wait until the sun sets so it won’t be suspicious for the three of them to disappear. 

When they enter the forest, it feels different, darker somehow. It still thrums of magic, but there aren’t any animals out like there normally are and the air is heavy. Michael leads them to his and Alex’s usual spot and they sit at their tree. Usually, Alex will appear a few minutes after he arrives, but no one comes. Isobel and Max share an uneasy look but say nothing. Michael clenches his uninjured hand in a fist as they wait, his anxiety curling around his heart tighter and tighter as the minutes slowly pass. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, there’s a _pop_ and a strange fey is there. He looks a bit like Alex, but where Alex has soft features, there’s a sharpness to this fey.

Michael is instantly on his feet, “Who are you? Where’s Alex?”

The fey keeps his distance and frowns, “You must be Michael,” he sneers, “You’re the reason my brother was destroyed.”

Michael freezes, “What? What do you mean?”

“Because of you, my father took Alex away and plucked him apart. He’s gone.” The fey spits angrily at Michael.

He feels light-headed and the world is spinning around him, his siblings are immediately at his side to steady him. “He’s dead?”

“You’ll never see him again,” the fey confirms, “I’d say forget about him, but I want you to remember him and carry the guilt of his fate on your shoulders for the rest of your miserable life.”

And Michael knows he will. When he’d met Alex, he’d been terrified of Michael’s presence but Michael still insisted on staying and coming back over and over, because he was curious and wanted something special for himself. Tears start to fall from his eyes and he angrily wipes them away.

“Come on,” Max says lowly in Michael’s ear, “This fey is angry, we need to go while we can.”

Michael doesn’t remember the journey back to the village, the fey’s words still ringing in his head. When they’re back at Michael’s home, Michael comes out of his daze. “I need to leave this village,” he says.

“All for the fey?” Isobel asks shocked. 

“He wasn’t just a fey,” Michael responds hollowly, “He was my best friend. I loved him. And I can’t stay here, I never fit in anyway.”

“But where will you go?” Max questions.

“I don’t care.” Michael returns and closes his eyes. “Anywhere is better than here.”

The next day, Michael packs up his meager belongings and finds the trousers he’d been wearing on his last day with Alex. He wants to burn them, to rid himself of the memory, but then he notices something sticking out of the pocket. When he pulls it out, it’s the ringlet of twigs and flowers Alex had been working on. Fresh tears fill Michael’s eyes and he gently runs a finger around it, Alex’s familiar magic responding weakly against his finger. He carefully places it in his pocket and vows to keep it with him forever.

He spends the next few years drifting from village to village. He picks up odd jobs in the villages, but never stays too long. Nowhere feels like home and he feels restless if he stays in one place for too long. He steers clear of villages that have forests, fearing that he would run into other fey folk that knew what Michael had done to one of their own. At night, Michael runs his fingers around the ringlet still feeling Alex through it.

Michael eventually finds a village with vast fields that need a good farmer. The village is small and the people mostly keep to themselves, but they welcome Michael in like one of their own. It’s near the sea and has beautiful meadows nearby. Michael had always wanted to farm his own land, so he decides to settle down there. He gets his own portion of the field to farm and a small cottage on its edge.

It doesn’t fill the void he feels in his heart, but he’s content. He takes walks along the shore of the sea early in the morning before he tends to his fields and will eat in the pub once every few days to catch up on village gossip. Michael avoids the meadows because Alex loved flowers and it’s too painful to enjoy their beauty.

A few years after Michael has settled into his new life, he’s taking his morning walk on the beach when he sees an unfamiliar figure sitting on one of the rocks. He carefully approaches the figure, and when he gets closer, his heart stops for a moment and the breath is knocked out of him. The figure looks exactly like Alex, and as if mirroring their first meeting, he has a seagull sitting in his lap while he’s tying seaweed together.

“Alex?” Michael questions.

The figure looks up and a smile splits across his face, “Michael.”

“You don’t seem surprised to see me.” Michael accuses.

Alex huffs out a laugh, “I’ve been waiting for you. I told you, the trees know everything.”

Michael rushes over to him and the seagull is surprised by the movement but plucks the seaweed away from Alex and flies away. Alex isn’t even paying attention to the animal as Michael envelopes him into a hug. “I thought you were dead,” Michael whispers into the embrace.

“He tried,” Alex admits quietly.

“What happened?” Michael demands.

He sighs and untangles Michael from his embrace. “After I sent you back to the village, he tried to take my magic away. He took most of it,” Alex has a sad look around his eyes, “but not all.” He reaches up toward his neck and pulls out from under his shirt the necklace he’d always worn and never explained to Michael. “My mother made this talisman for me, she’d imbued it with the last of her magic before she died and it saved me from losing it all. But he was still so angry. He severed off my leg.” Alex rolls his right trouser leg up to reveal a beautiful fake leg. It’s made of tree branches entwined together and has some flowers tucked into some of the crisscrosses of the branches.

Michael makes a wounded noise and reaches down to Alex’s leg. “He did all that because of me.”

“I don’t regret it.” Alex responds vehemently, “He always hated me. I reminded him too much of my mother. He had always been looking for an excuse to do something like this.”

Michael hugs Alex again and tentatively leans in to kiss Alex, who closes the distance between them and slips his tongue into Michael’s mouth. “I’ve missed you so much,” Michael says when they pull apart.

“Me too. But I’m here now, and I’m not going anywhere.” Alex smiles and traces his finger around Michael’s lips.

💞 💞 💞

_Once upon a time, there was an alien who spent his life searching for a home. He fell in love with a beautiful fey boy and they lived together in a cottage by the sea overlooking a bountiful field. The alien always had the most prosperous harvest and the fey weaved protection runes for the animals that lived in their village. The alien had finally found his home with the fey, and they lived happily ever after._


End file.
